


home is just a room full of my safest sounds

by shewitches



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, basically they're very cute and play pranks on each other, idk how to tag shit, the office au that no one asked for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-10
Updated: 2017-05-10
Packaged: 2018-10-30 10:58:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10875354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shewitches/pseuds/shewitches
Summary: Simon looks appalled, but the fact that he’s ignoring the mountain of work he should do to sit and have coffee with him says a lot. Simon dramatically stands up and starts to walk towards the door backwards. “I have never been this offended. Really, you’ve managed to offend me more than anyone else. I’ve had people boo me off stage before — but this? This is too far. You’ve gone too far, Lightwood.”When he backs into the door to the breakroom and everyone glares at them, Jace can’t stop himself from laughing. He still has a few minutes before he should make sales calls, so he doesn’t get up and follow him.“You love me!”When Simon flips him off as he walks back to his desk, he tries to tell his heart to stop beating a mile a minute.





	home is just a room full of my safest sounds

**Author's Note:**

> the office au that literally no one asked for but are getting anyway! this is un-beta'd and any mistakes are my own. the title is from talk me down by troye sivan. i don't own these characters, blah blah blah. the usual. hopefully this is as fun to read as it was to write. ♥

Jace hates Simon.  
  
Well, maybe hate is a strong word. He hates the fact that he can’t go through his work day without worrying that his phone is going to be covered in glue or some other stupid prank that Simon comes up with. This has been his life for a year now.  
  
But, maybe he doesn’t hate Simon.  
  
He doesn’t know how the pranking started, but Simon claims it’s his fault. It’s been the topic of every real argument they’ve ever had. Simon refuses to back down because he doesn’t want Jace to win; Jace doesn’t even remember starting it.  
  
He thinks Izzy may be the culprit, but he can’t prove it and she’s _terrifying._  
  
So, he’ll let Simon think it was him. It’s better than dealing with Izzy’s specific brand of wrath.  
  
He’s fine with it until they get into an argument across the office when one of them pranks the other. Most of the time, he’s the one getting mad. He can’t be blamed though when Simon puts super glue on his desk and he ends up with his hands stuck for an hour.  
  
**  
  
Working for Luke Garroway is the best job Jace has ever had. When he interviewed, Luke told him that the job would be simple if he could charm people into buying things. When he applied for the job, he only did it because it was the one job that was looking for three people and he wanted to work with his siblings. Izzy’s working on her degree to be a forensic pathologist and needs something to get by while Alec is still searching for himself. Jace is just — Jace. He doesn’t know what he’s really doing anymore.  
  
The Lightwoods adopted Jace when he was ten after he spent six months in foster care. Most kids his age don’t get adopted, so he never expected to end up with a family like the Lightwoods. Growing up, they seemed like the best parents anyone could have asked for. Now that he’s older, he knows that no parent is perfect.  
  
He went from not having any siblings to having two — and then three once Max was born. To say that Isabelle and Alec are his best friends is an understatement. They never made him feel like he was a burden or a stray that his parents picked up — even if he sometimes felt that way himself.  
  
Still, there’s a part of him that knows he’s not family to them. Even if he thinks of himself as their brother, he doesn’t think they think the same of him. Best friend, maybe, but not family.  
  
He’s working on it.  
  
**  
  
“You look like shit. Long night?”  
  
Simon’s voice along with the hum of the soda machine in the break room is a comfort for him. In here, he can avoid the shrill sound of his phone ringing. He likes the break room. Simon finishes pouring his coffee and raises an eyebrow at him as if he was expecting their usual witty banter.  
  
Something about that makes him smile.  
  
“I look better than you do. Still going for the I rolled out of bed and came here look? Because you’re missing it by a mile.”  
  
His heart isn’t in it but the banter makes Simon smile, so it’s worth it. He can muster up half-hearted witty comments if it means Simon smiles at him like that again.  
  
“I’m going for the _I like my job so I don’t get drunk on Tuesday nights look._ ”  
  
Jace knows that he has a reputation — one that he didn’t ask for, by the way — of being a party animal or a lothario. He hears the joking comments from people in the warehouse every time he looks a little disheveled or even smiles at a girl.  
  
It shouldn’t bother him that Simon thinks of him that way, but it does.  
  
He tenses a little, but tries to keep himself from looking too upset. “I don’t drink, actually.” He bites his tongue so that he doesn’t go on a rant about a few of his alcoholic foster parents he was shipped off to. He’s fine with being the guy that drinks too much if it means he doesn’t have to explain that. “Maryse and Robert are out of the country for the week and Max is staying with me. He’s a teenager that has the flu. I’m sure you can figure the rest out yourself.”  
  
His voice is still laced with sarcasm, but he can see Simon’s expression soften at the explanation.  
  
“Wow. Okay. Way to ruin our morning banter with you being a saint. I'm a jackass, ignore me.”  
  
Simon drops a pile of expense reports on the table Jace has claimed as his own and proceeds to sit down. Jace’s heart jumps when he does and he hates himself for it. He’s been trying to inform his heart that he hates Simon. His mind gets it, but his heart apparently doesn’t.  
  
“Alec and Izzy couldn’t take care of him for the week?”  
  
“I offered.” He isn’t going to explain, but Simon looks genuinely curious as he sips his coffee. His stupid button up shirt makes Jace want to take a sick day. “If he stays with Alec, he’ll end up bored. If he stays with Izzy, he’ll end up getting lost in a sea of clutter in her apartment. He says it’s like Narnia there.”  
  
Simon laughs at that and it’s so endearing that Jace feels warm all over. “So you’re his favorite sibling then.”  
  
He knows it’s stupid to be happy when someone refers to Max, Izzy or Alec as his siblings. They are. He just always expects people to start with the ‘technically, you’re not actually siblings’ argument that he’s heard his entire life.  
  
“I’m everyone’s favorite, Simon. Even _yours._ ”  
  
Simon looks appalled, but the fact that he’s ignoring the mountain of work he should do to sit and have coffee with him says a lot. Simon dramatically stands up and starts to walk towards the door backwards. “I have never been this offended. Really, you’ve managed to offend me more than anyone else. I’ve had people boo me off stage before — but this? This is too far. You’ve gone too far, Lightwood.”  
  
When he backs into the door to the breakroom and everyone glares at them, Jace can’t stop himself from laughing. He still has a few minutes before he should make sales calls, so he doesn’t get up and follow him.  
  
“You love me!”  
  
When Simon flips him off as he walks back to his desk, he tries to tell his heart to stop beating a mile a minute.  
  
**  
  
“Team, I’d like to introduce you to someone.”  
  
Luke is hands down the best boss that Jace has ever had. He’s annoyingly sweet to their clients and as much as Jace would love to take the credit for them still being in business, he knows their branch is only open because of Luke. He’s a fixture in their town that convinces people to buy from them.  
  
He’ll never tell Luke how much he appreciates him, but he thinks Luke gets it.  
  
At least he hopes he does.  
  
“This is Magnus Bane. He’s a consultant I brought in to help us increase sales and help the office run smoothly.”  
  
He thinks that Luke manages to look straight at him and Simon at the same time when he says it, but that might be his guilty conscious. His phone buzzes in his pocket and he hears Izzy’s chime from her desk.  
  
Group text ► lightwood fam  
  
[ Alec 10:27 ] I’m headed back to the office. Did I miss anything?  
[ Izzy 10:28 ] yes!!  
[ Jace 10:28 ] I’m looking at your future husband right now  
He can almost see Alec roll his eyes and when he doesn’t reply for a whole minute, Jace sneaks and takes a picture of Magnus while Luke is explaining something about what exactly it is that Magnus does.  
[ Jace 10:30 ] Meet your new husband, Izzy and I approve already  
[ Jace 10:30 ] attached img.  
[ Alec 10:34 ] How do I leave this chat?  
  
Jace stifles a laugh and puts his phone back in his pocket at the end of Luke’s speech about how great Magnus is. He missed half of it, but he thinks he can piece it together. When Magnus starts talking about how he isn’t here to ruin the office or cause problems, Jace spaces out again.  
  
He doesn’t refocus until he hears the door open and the familiar sound of Alec walking in. He narrows his eyes when Alec hangs up his jacket and stands by reception.  
  
[ Izzy 10:40 ] did you put a new shirt on?  
  
When Jace reads the message, he glances back up towards Alec and tries to keep himself from rolling his eyes. Their meeting finally ends and Magnus makes a point to stop a reception to talk to Maia and introduce himself to Alec.  
  
Izzy high fives him from her desk beside him.  
  
**  
  
Jace really hates Simon when he loses a bet. It’s a rare day that he actually loses a bet, but when he does, everyone makes sure to torture him with it. On top of the shame of losing a bet, he has to speak in lyrics from High School Musical the entire work day.  
  
“Jace, what’s up?”  
  
Smug looks good on Simon. Jace bites his lip to keep himself from telling him that.  
  
“Getcha head in the game, Simon.” He glares at Simon when he says it and hopes that he gets the message, but he doesn’t. He just sits on his desk again and won’t stop smiling at him. This is the worst bet he’s ever been a part of.  
  
“I think we’re having a work related argument back in accounting.”  
  
“We’re a champion team, a well-oiled machine and we’ve faced tougher problems than this.”  
  
Simon laughs so loud that the entire office looks at him. Jace would be mad if it wasn’t the cutest thing he’s ever seen. He knows that Simon’s having way too much fun at his expense but he doesn’t care.  
  
“This is probably my favorite bet of yours that you’ve lost. No one will ever be able to ruin this day for me because you’re forced to quote an iconic movie of our generation. Have you done any sales calls today or are you just taking the — ”  
  
He cuts Simon off by standing up, trying to think of a way to say goodbye and make fun of him for talking too much. “You're talking a lot. Show me what you've got.”  
  
He has papers to file even if he can’t call clients. He can’t just sit there and stare at Simon all day.  
  
It’s the longest day of his entire life.  
  
**  
  
“I’m just saying, you can’t judge the whole series on one movie that you fell asleep during.”  
  
His morning routine of hiding out in the break room is ruined when both Simon and Clary decide to spend their morning in there. They’re having an argument about Clary’s dislike of Star Wars and Jace considers how easy it would be to drown himself in his coffee.  
  
“I fell asleep because it was a boring movie, Simon.”  
  
Simon looks so offended that Jace wants to laugh. Simon makes some comment about ignoring her to talk to him and a feeling of triumph settles in Jace’s chest.  
  
Or, it does until Clary sits down with them.  
  
“What are your plans this weekend, Jace?” Before he can even answer, Clary keeps talking. “We’re getting dinner at that new sushi place across town.”  
  
Simon looks at her like she’s made of sunshine and Jace really wants to discover a way to drown in his coffee cup. The way he his heart falls when he watches them together is ridiculous and stupid. Feelings are ridiculous and stupid.  
  
“I think my phone’s ringing.”  
  
He leaves with that and ignores the way Simon’s face falls.  
  
**  
  
It’s 4:50 before Simon talks to him again. He’s 10 minutes from leaving when he hears the familiar sound of someone sending him an IM. Most of the time, the IM’ing system is used so that they don’t have to walk across the office and talk to each other.  
  
They do it anyway, but that’s not the point.  
  
The point is that Jace doesn’t want to have a conversation about his stupid feelings that shouldn’t exist over work IM. He would rather not have it at all.  
  
SimonLewis: Are you okay?  
JaceLightwood: Yes, Simon  
SimonLewis: You’ve said three words to me all day.  
JaceLightwood: I’ve said more than that  
SimonLewis: “Here’s the report”  
SimonLewis: Am I forgetting something?  
JaceLightwood: I’ve been busy  
SimonLewis: Okay.  
  
Jace hates this. He hates feeling like he’s messing up a perfectly good friendship just to sulk. He’s sure he’ll be fine tomorrow, but for now it sucks. He wants to be the bigger person and talk to Simon the way he normally does, but all he can think about is the way Simon looks at Clary. It’s stupid and he knows it isn’t fair, but he can’t help it.  
  
JaceLightwood: Have a good weekend, Simon  
JaceLightwood: Tell me how the sushi place is  
He doesn’t give Simon the chance to reply before he’s shutting his computer down for the weekend and packing up his stuff. He has a whole weekend to get over Simon. He thinks he can manage it.  
  
**  
  
He doesn’t manage it.  
  
When he comes into work on Monday, his desk is covered in layers of saran wrap. It takes him twenty minutes to get the first layer off and he feels triumphant until he realizes there’s at least two more layers.  
  
He doesn’t hate Simon, but he wishes this made him hate him.  
  
During lunch, Simon goes out with Luke. While they’re gone, Jace tapes 100 copies of Simon’s 8th grade yearbook picture all over the office.  
  
When Jace comes back from lunch and he sits down in his chair, there’s shaving cream in it.  
  
He really, really wishes he could hate Simon.  
  
“These are new pants, _Simon_.”  
  
“Eighth grade yearbook picture, _Jace_.”  
They’re not yelling at each other, but they might as well be.  
  
**  
  
Forty-five minutes later, Simon’s sitting on the side of his desk that’s empty and staring at him while he finishes a sales call. And no, regardless of what Izzy says, he didn’t clean off that side of his desk so that Simon would have a place to sit.  
  
When he hangs up the phone, Simon is smiling at him like he has a big secret.  
  
“The shaving cream may have been a bit much.”  
  
“You think?”  
  
Apparently, that’s not the answer Simon wanted.  
  
“The correct answer is ‘the 8th grade yearbook picture was too far. I’m sorry, Simon. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had’. Nice try though.”  
  
“If I ever say that, I’ve been abducted by aliens and you’re dealing with the alien version of me.”  
  
Simon grins at that and Jace feels like he won the lottery.  
  
“Truce?”  
  
Jace almost says yes. His ruined pants make him want to say yes. The fact that they waste half their work day planning and doing pranks makes him want to say yes.  
  
But, he doesn’t.  
  
Instead, he stands up from his desk and leans over Simon to throw something away. They’re too close for it to be friendly and Jace can feel the heat radiating from Simon. When he moves to sit back down, he put his hand on Simon’s neck and makes a point to look as sincere as he can.  
  
“Not a chance.”  
  
**  
  
He’s had a sales war going on with Izzy since the day they started working for Luke. Despite his hour-long lecture about how sales isn’t a competition between their branch, but between the other branches — both he and Izzy have a competitive nature that can’t be stopped.  
  
He’s on his fifth sale of the day before noon when he notices that Izzy hasn’t been on the phone all day. Instead, she’s been smiling at her computer and making a point to go up to reception as much as she can.  
  
As much as Jace loves to win, he also loves it when Izzy is actual competition for him. He doesn’t want to win because she’s taking it easy on him.  
  
He pulls up his work IM and clicks on her username.  
  
JaceLightwood: ???  
IsabelleLightwood: what?  
JaceLightwood: You’re slacking today. What’s wrong?  
IsabelleLightwood: Just giving you a chance to catch up ;)  
  
He rolls his eyes and goes back to filling out his order, but makes a point to watch her for the rest of the day. What he finds is that his sister has a crush on Maia. It’s not obvious, not in the way Alec has a glaringly obvious crush on Magnus, but he notices. He knows what she looks like when she likes someone.  
  
JaceLightwood: Stop flirting with the receptionist.  
IsabelleLightwood: office assistant.  
JaceLightwood: So you admit you’re flirting?  
IsabelleLightwood: when you admit your prank war is your way of flirting with simon :)  
  
Jace logs off after that. Not because of Izzy, obviously, but because he has work to do.  
  
**  
  
He’s known Clary Fray for almost as long as he’s known Simon. He doesn’t know her nearly as well as he knows Simon, but he feels like he knows her a little bit given that Simon talks about her so much. He may not know her a lot, but he knows that she would rather be dead than having this conversation with their team right now.  
  
“So. Work place displays of affection aren’t allowed. We’re here to work, not to make out in a supply closet or write love notes all day.”  
  
She sounds like a robot reading from a script. It’s almost amusing. He feels Simon shift beside him but doesn’t think anything of it. He knows that Simon has an issue with sitting still and Clary’s been talking about public displays of affection for an hour with no break.  
  
“What do you consider a display of affection? Can I hug someone?”  
  
It’s Alec’s voice that pulls Clary out of her mindless rant. Jace narrows his eyes at him and wants to immediately ask who he plans on hugging in the office.  
  
“Why would you need to hug someone in the office?” Clary sounds ready to break her binder in half. Jace wonders if she actually likes her job or if she’s only doing it to pay for school or something.  
  
Alec blushes at that and glances at the floor. Jace wants to throw something at him. After he’s done being embarrassed over nothing, he finally answers. “It was just a question.”  
  
Clary sighs and rolls her eyes at him. “Just keep your hands to yourself. Pretend Luke is always around and you’ll never want to make out with one of your co-workers.”  
  
Jace hears Luke laugh at that and his immediate reaction is to glance towards Simon to see if he’s laughing. When he does, he notices that Simon’s eyes are closed and he’s barely keeping his head up. It’s adorable and infuriating at the same time.  
  
When Clary starts talking about the do’s and don’ts of inter-office romance, he feels Simon move again until his head is resting against his shoulder.  
  
Jace doesn’t pay attention to the rest of Clary’s speech.  
  
**  
  
His next prank is kind of mean. It’s not his fault that it’s getting close to Halloween and every store he goes into gives him a million ideas.  
  
A fake rat covered in blood may have been a little mean, but Simon isn’t even the one that ends up screaming. All he does is jump and then throw it at Jace from across the office.  
  
It’s Aline that ends up screaming when the fake rat ends up landing right in front of her as she walks towards reception.  
  
Really, Jace can’t be blamed for this entire thing. Simon’s bad arm caused this.  
  
Their prank war only had one rule before — that their pranks never cause physical harm — but they add a second one when Aline threatens to get them both fired. It’s funny until they realize that she works in customer service and could make their life hell.  
  
Second rule: no fake rats or rodents of any kind.  
  
**  
  
The office Halloween party is always Jace’s favorite party they have. The Christmas one is always too boring and Valentine’s day is even worse. The idea of Valentine’s day this year makes his skin crawl.  
  
He can’t think about that now. Instead, he chooses to focus on helping Maia put up Halloween decorations in the conference room. He tries to make conversation with her about something simple but apparently, his mind isn’t connected to his mouth.  
  
“Do you like my sister?”  
  
Maia freezes for a second as she’s putting fake spiders on a fake spider web on the wall. Jace wants to melt into the ground. He’s never been the type to give the ‘don’t hurt my siblings’ lecture. He doesn’t even know where the question came from.  
  
“— Do I know your sister?”  
  
That makes Jace freeze. He forgets that when he started, they had a different office assistant. He just assumed that everyone in the office knew Izzy and Alec were his siblings. Maybe he needs to broadcast that more.  
“Isabelle.”  
  
Maia laughs at that like he’s joking, but she stops when she sees that he’s serious.  
  
“Sorry, I just —” She pauses, going back to putting fake spiders in weird places. “I didn’t know she was your sister.” Jace is about to speak up again, but she keeps talking. “Plus, I’m dating someone. Jordan from downstairs.”  
  
She doesn’t sound happy when she says it and that isn’t even an answer. He files that away for later.  
  
They don’t talk much after that, but Maia throws a fake spider at his head and he thinks that means they’re friends.  
  
**  
  
Simon’s late for their Halloween party.  
  
Everyone else is there and wearing ridiculous costumes, but Simon’s late.  
  
He’s late and Jace feels stupid because he picked his costume specifically for Simon. He hates himself a little for it now, but everyone likes it and none of them know that he only picked it because of Simon.  
  
By one hour in, the party is already past the point of being ridiculous that makes Jace want to go home. Alec and Magnus are wearing a couples costume that they won’t call a couples costume and were caught making out in the break room, Izzy keeps trying to get Maia to have fun despite the fact that her boyfriend didn’t show up and Aline is flirting with the new temp that’s only been in the office for 4 hours. He thinks her name is Helen.  
  
He wants to go home.  
  
Luke passes him a drink and he’s about to decline before Luke tells him it’s just punch. When Jace raises a brow, Luke shrugs.  
  
“You told me in your interview that you don’t drink.”  
  
“Alec told you he was good at accounting when he interviewed.”  
  
That makes Luke choke on his drink and he looks almost fond. Jace rarely gets emotional about his job, but he thinks this is a good time. He’s never worked at a company like this one before and he thinks Luke is the reason for that. Well, Luke and Alaric. Even if he doesn’t see Luke’s husband much, he knows that Alaric is good at working behind the scenes.  
  
“Alaric didn’t want to come party with everyone tonight?”  
  
Luke laughs and motions towards Maia. “He’s dealing with something for Maia. He might pop in later.”  
  
Jace wants to ask, but Simon’s dramatic entrance distracts him. Luke gives him a knowing smile before he goes to talk to someone else.  
  
He’s suddenly self-conscious about his Luke Skywalker costume as Simon moves among the crowd in his stupid Spiderman costume that’s leaving nothing to the imagination. He really, really wants to go home now. Not because he’s annoyed but because he’s trying to remember that Simon is just his friend that he’s pretty sure has a girlfriend.  
  
(He’s scared to ask.)  
  
When Simon finally makes his way to him, he looks like he’s about to burst from happiness. Jace hopes its because of him, as selfish as that is. “You dressed up like a Star Wars character.”  
  
“Did I?” He jokes, his grin spreading as Simon beams at him. He’s pretty sure if he smiles any more, his face might break.  
  
“Please tell me there’s a lightsaber somewhere.”  
  
He literally jumps up and down when Jace hands him the lightsaber he bought to go with his costume. It’s the most endearing thing Jace has ever seen. He wants to scream.  
  
Jace doesn’t say anything, just watches Simon treat his fake lightsaber like it’s a precious commodity.  
  
“You are officially my favorite person.” Simon sounds genuine and Jace wants to harvest the warm feeling in his chest and keep it.  
  
“You’re the biggest nerd I’ve ever met.” Making fun of Simon is easier than admitting that he’s battling his feelings for him.  
  
“Coming from the person in the Luke Skywalker costume.” And really, Jace can’t argue with that.  
  
He’s really glad he didn’t go home.  
  
**  
  
Group text ► lightwood fam  
  
[ Alec 1:27 ] Why is Simon asking me Jace’s shirt size?  
[ Izzy 1:30 ] because he’s in love with him.  
[ Jace 1:31 ] He has a girlfriend, Iz  
[ Jace 1:31 ] It’s probably for a prank. Just tell him anyway  
[ Izzy 1:32 ] god you’re whipped.  
[ Alec 1:33 ] Too much information, Izzy.  
  
Jace rolls his eyes and put his phone back in his desk. He really loves his siblings.  
  
**  
  
When a shirt ends up on his desk two days later, he doesn’t even question who it’s from. The sticky note with a smiley face on it isn’t necessary, but he isn’t going to complain.  
  
He does complain about the fact that the shirt has a picture of Simon on it that says ‘ _The 8th grade yearbook picture was too far. I’m sorry, Simon. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had._ ’  
  
He hates that he likes him.  
  
He really, really does.  
  
**  
  
When his computer dings in the middle of a sales call, he immediately knows who it is.  
  
SimonLewis: i’m offended that you’re not wearing the shirt i got you  
JaceLightwood: i don’t believe in false advertising  
SimonLewis: i hate you  
JaceLightwood: love you too, sweetheart  
Simon throws a pack of post notes at his head from across the office and he laughs loudly in the middle of his call. He still makes the sale, but the wonderful receptionist from the local dentist office thinks he’s weird.  
  
It’s worth it.  
  
**  
  
He loves his siblings until he walks in on Magnus and Alec making out in the conference room in the middle of the day. He doesn’t love them as much then.  
  
“Really, Alec?”  
  
Alec tries to look embarrassed, but he still has his hands up Magnus’ shirt so it doesn’t really work. Magnus doesn’t even try to pull away from Alec, he just looks at Jace like he’s expecting him to have a work conversation with him while he’s groping Jace’s brother.  
  
“Sanitize the table if you end up fucking on it.”  
  
Alec flips him off as he leaves, but he looks happy. He closes the door behind him as he leaves and when he turns around, he ends up almost running straight into Simon.  
  
“If you want to talk to Magnus, my advice is to slip something under the door and let him know you need him later. He’s sucking face with Alec.”  
  
Simon looks more annoyed about Magnus and Alec making out than he has about any prank Jace has ever played on him. That includes the time he reset Simon’s autocorrect to change everything he texted to quotes from Fight Club.  
  
Simon’s about to walk away when Jace grabs his arm, not pulling away when he ends up with his hand wrapped around Simon’s wrist.  
  
“What’s wrong?”  
Simon looks like he’s about to crack, so Jace knocks on Luke’s door twice to tell them that they’re taking a trip to see a client and he needs Simon. It’s a lie, but he doesn’t want Simon to break down in front of their entire office. It’s the least he can do.  
  
They make it to the parking lot before he hears Simon sniffling. Before he can even ask Simon what’s wrong again, Simon’s sobbing against his chest. He’s dealt with people crying around him before, but it’s different because it’s Simon. He doesn’t know if it’s okay for him to hold Simon the way he would if Simon were Izzy or Alec.  
  
He’s never thought about anything that Simon could be going through. It sounds selfish to him when he thinks about it that way, but it’s true. He equates Simon with happiness and the general ease that he feels around him. He never thought he’d see this side of him.  
  
Simon’s sobbing so hard that he’s shaking and Jace thinks that he’s trying to say something but it’s mostly gibberish. Despite how awkward it may be, given that it’s them and they’re standing in the middle of the parking lot, Jace moves one of his hands to soothe Simon by rubbing at his back. It’s what he does for Izzy when she cries.  
  
He starts to calm down after a few minutes, but Jace won’t ask what’s wrong again. He doesn’t need to know. All he needs to know is if Simon’s okay. When Simon pulls away from him, he doesn’t move his hand from his back just yet.  
“If you want to talk — ”  
  
“I know. I’ll come to you. “  
  
Jace resists the urge he has to kiss Simon’s head when he pulls away fully.  
  
**  
  
It’s the beginning of December when Clary starts passing out Secret Santa assignments.  
  
Because the universe hates him, he gets Simon.  
  
Usually, he treats his Secret Santa as a joke and gets them a 10-dollar gift from Walmart. He knows that he can’t do that with Simon. He wants it to be something that Simon will like. Which is how he ends up thinking about spending 500 dollars on a first edition comic before Izzy stops him.  
  
“There’s a 20-dollar limit, Jace.” She sounds judgmental and smug at the same time. He thinks that’s an accomplishment.  
  
“I don’t know what to get him, Izzy. I can’t just get him a snow globe or something.”  
  
“Oh the woes of young love.” Her voice is full of sarcasm and he throws a pencil at her. His sister is the worst.  
  
He’s cancelling Christmas this year. It’s official.  
  
**  
  
After a lot of moping around and a long conversation with Max, he decides to hire a graphic designer to create a short comic book for Simon. It features him as Spider-Man and a couple references that Jace doesn’t really understand, but he’s sure Simon will love it. He ends up spending over 20-dollars, but no one needs to know.  
  
The holiday party is always the most hectic one. Meliorn always stops in to give out the gifts from corporate for the holiday and Jocelyn always flirts with Luke. It’s an uncomfortable day for everyone involved, even someone like him that just stands on the sidelines and watches.  
  
He’s focused on the awkward conversation between Meliorn and Jocelyn when Izzy comes up to him and shoves a Santa hat on him. He’s about to take it off before Simon walks by him and grins at it. He decides to leave it on after that in the spirit of the holiday.  
  
The rules of Secret Santa are simple — 20-dollar limit and no gas station magnets. Jace is proud that he broke the good one and not the bad one. He carries Simon’s gift over to his desk in the middle of the party and he’s met with a scene of Simon playing with action figures at his desk. He’s guessing they’re a Christmas gift from someone.  
  
It’s adorable.  
  
Jace hates it.  
  
He raises a brow at the scene in front of him. “You’re not allowed to fight with me about being a nerd anymore.”  
  
Simon laughs at that and turns to face him, his face lighting up when he sees the gift in Jace’s hands. “You’re my Secret Santa?”  
  
“Seems like it.” He half-sits on the edge of Simon’s desk, placing the gift in front of him. When Simon doesn’t immediately open it, he rolls his eyes. “It’s not a prank gift. Just open it.”  
  
The noise from the rest of the party fades to the background as Simon carefully tears the wrapping paper off. When he opens it and sees the comic, Jace thinks he might cry. When he realizes that the he’s Spiderman in the comic, he does cry.  
  
He cries and he hugs Jace so hard that Jace wants to melt into it. “This is amazing. No one’s ever turned me into a comic book character before.”  
  
Jace feels triumphant in that moment. He feels on top of the world.  
  
They’re not hugging anymore, but Simon is standing so close to him that if he moved an inch he could kiss him. He wants to kiss him. He wants to kiss him so bad that something inside of him aches. His gaze falls to Simon’s lips and he swallows. He swears he sees Simon nod seconds before he hears someone clear their throat beside them.  
  
He loves his siblings dearly, but he wants to punch Alec when he realizes it’s him.  
  
“Luke is doing a toast. He won’t start until everyone’s over there.”  
  
He hates how cold he feels when Simon pulls away from him and won’t meet his eyes.  
  
**  
  
When Christmas Day rolls around, he continues the family tradition of spending the day with Alec and Izzy before they have to go to dinner with their parents.  
  
“Do we have to go this year?”  
  
Izzy and Jace look up from the dessert Jace had made earlier in sync and stare at him. They’ve never skipped Christmas dinner before. He sees how tense Alec is and he can guess why he wants to skip. Their parents aren’t the most understanding people in the universe and they’ve never been able to accept that Alec is gay and that Jace and Izzy are bisexual.  
  
They’ve managed to avoid anything up to this point since none of them have been in serious relationships until now.  
  
Jace nods and speaks up. “I can make dinner here if you want to invite Magnus.” Alec looks like he might cry and Izzy sniffles beside him. They all know the reality of their parents and how they’ll never accept them. It doesn’t make it any easier.  
  
“You guys are okay with him coming over?”  
  
Jace nods and Izzy looks offended that he even asked.  
  
It ends up being the best Christmas dinner they’ve ever had aside from Izzy’s attempt at making potatoes. They’ll deal with the consequences later.  
  
It almost makes him forget that he was ten seconds away from kissing Simon a few days earlier.  
  
**  
  
The aftermath of Christmas weighs heavy on Jace. He has to go back to work and face Simon after almost kissing him. He has to deal with his parent’s anger about them not going to dinner. If he had his way, he’d avoid it all.  
  
When he gets to his desk, the entire thing is covered in post it notes with Simon’s handwriting on them. He could almost cry with relief. He takes them all off and keeps them, even if he doesn’t read what they say.  
  
Simon grins at him throughout the entire day. It feels normal.  
  
**  
  
He finds out that Maia’s boyfriend Jordan cheated on her through Izzy. She’s been ranting for five minutes about how she doesn’t understand how someone could cheat on Maia. All Jace asked her was how her day’s going.  
  
Simon walks by the middle of her rant and he makes Jace scoot over in his chair so that he can sit and listen too. Jace is overly aware of the warmth of Simon’s leg against his. He’s close enough that he’s practically in Jace’s lap. Jace stops listening halfway through Izzy’s rant and lets Simon take over with the advice. If he gave Izzy advice right now, it would probably be that she needs to make out with Maia in the middle of the office like he wants to do with Simon.  
  
He’s having a bad day when it comes to his feelings.  
  
**  
  
“He’s an idiot, you know.”  
  
He thinks that Maia can be considered his friend. Most of their conversations are snarky and ridiculous, but at least Maia isn’t just ignoring him like she does Clary. It’s sort of a friendship.  
  
Maia laughs at his comment. “I know. I’ve known that for a long time.”  
  
Jace grabs a few of the candies that she has on her desk. He doesn’t ask what she means, he just raises an eyebrow at her.  
  
She’s quiet for a minute, but he can tell that she’s trying to think of what to say. “It’s complicated.” He can tell from her eyes that he doesn’t want to hear the whole story. He might kill Jordan if he does. “I’m good now.”  
  
Jace nods and hands her a piece of candy. “Just let me know if you’re gonna flirt with Izzy. We have a bet going on sales and I can take advantage of that.”  
  
She rolls her eyes at him before throwing the candy at his head.  
  
Yeah, they’re definitely friends.  
  
**  
  
He’s having a really good Thursday until he sees Simon hugging Clary. He’s pretty sure they’re dating and he should be used to it by now — but he’s still not. Simon looks so happy that it makes Jace’s stomach flip.  
  
His Thursday gets a lot worse after that.  
  
It starts with a sales call gone wrong that ends up with him in Luke’s office. Apparently, there was a miscommunication about price because the woman on the phone is ancient and he considers quitting his job at least twice during the call.  
  
After that, he ends up in a screaming match with his Mom over the phone because according to her it’s his fault that they didn’t go to the family dinner.  
  
It’s a really, really bad Thursday.  
  
When he gets back to his desk, there’s a sticky note with a smiley face on it. He immediately recognizes that it’s Simon’s handwriting. As bad as his day was, it makes him smile.  
  
It’s stupid that it takes a sticky note to make Jace realize that he loves him, but he does. He loves Simon. He loves his ridiculous sticky notes, the pranks, his stupid glasses and even his weird love for Star Wars.  
  
He loves him and because the universe hates him, Simon doesn’t love him back.  
  
**  
  
Maia sends him an IM on a Tuesday afternoon.  
  
MaiaRoberts: Now’s your chance to win your bet.  
  
Jace makes a note to himself to get her a really good birthday present when he outsells Izzy by ten sales that day. He really owes Maia for that.  
  
**  
  
When his phone rings at midnight, he considers not answering it. He just watches it light up and buzz on the nightstand beside his bed for a minute before he groans and reaches for it. When he picks up, all he hears is club music. The light from the phone is bright, but he finally gets his eyes to focus enough for him to see it’s Simon.  
  
“Simon? What the hell?”  
  
He hears laughter in the background and fumbling before Simon finally talks to him.  
  
“Jace? Fuck, did I call you on accident? Fuck fuck fuck, I’m so sorry. I can’t get it to hang up— these buttons are so tiny.”  
  
Jace fails to keep himself from laughing, the sound loud in his silent bedroom. Simon’s voice is slurred and he should be annoyed but he’s not.  
  
“Fuck, your laugh is nice. You should laugh more.”  
  
Jace flushes at that and he’s thankful that Simon can’t see him. “I laugh at you all the time.”  
  
There’s shuffling and then the club music fades. He’s guessing Simon walked outside to talk to him. “I know. I like making you laugh.” Simon sighs like his life is ruined before he starts talking again. “I just like you.”  
  
Jace is silent on his end, his heart beating out of his chest. He doesn’t know how to handle this situation. If Simon was sober, he’d tell him he liked him too. Before he gets the chance to say anything, Simon starts rambling about someone puking on his shoes and how much he wants to go home.  
  
They stay on the phone for twenty minutes until his ride picks him up.  
  
When they go back to work on Monday and Simon doesn’t say anything to him about it, he feels like someone punched him in the face.  
  
**  
  
It’s a week from Valentine’s Day when he finds out that Izzy and Maia are dating. He only finds out because they’re having lunch outside of the office for once and Alec brings Magnus while Izzy brings Maia.  
  
He feels like a fifth wheel with his own siblings.  
  
“You wouldn’t feel like this if you just told Simon how you felt.”  
  
“And have him laugh in my face while he goes off into the sunset with his girlfriend? No thanks. I’ll get over it.”  
  
He leaves lunch early when they all start being stupid and cute. It makes Jace want to vomit.  
  
When he gets back to the office, he finds Simon sitting on his desk laughing at something on his phone. Everyone else is either in the break room or they’re out at lunch, so he isn’t sure why Simon is sitting on his desk waiting for him.  
He looks so comfortable and happy sitting there that Jace can’t handle it.  
  
“Hey, you’re back. I thought we could —” Simon starts talking but Jace cuts him off, lifting his hand to cup Simon’s cheek as he kisses him. After months of pining, kissing Simon feels like coming home. The kiss sends sparks up Jace’s spine and he’s overly smug when Simon drops his phone on the floor in surprise.  
  
Kissing Simon feels — well, it feels perfect. He can’t explain how great it feels when Simon’s brain catches up with the situation and he kisses him back. They’re in the middle of the office and even if everyone’s at lunch, he knows this is a bad place. He’s a rubber band that just snapped after months of dreaming about the moment.  
  
When he pulls back from the kiss, Simon’s eyes are still closed and Jace doesn’t want to pull away yet. He doesn’t want to ruin the moment. He wants to drown in the feeling of Simon’s lips against his. He can feel Simon breathing against his lips until he finally pulls back.  
  
“— Fuck, I’m sorry.” Simon has a girlfriend. Simon doesn’t even like him like that. They’re friends. Why couldn’t he just accept that and not ruin everything? He clears his throat and backs up from his desk, deciding that he needs a sick day.  
  
**  
  
Group text ► lightwood fam  
  
[ Alec 2:27 ] Where are you?  
[ Jace 2:31 ] home  
[ Jace 2:31 ] wasn’t feeling good after lunch  
[ Izzy 2:32 ] we can tell when you’re lying, jace.  
  
He wants to throw his phone against a wall. The whole point of going home after lunch was that he didn’t have to face it. He doesn’t want to think about how he ruined his friendship with Simon because he kissed him.  
  
[ Jace 2:40 ] i kissed simon  
  
He puts his phone down after that and ignores the fact that it doesn’t stop vibrating for ten minutes. He doesn’t need the lecture about how he kissed someone with a girlfriend. After his phone finally stops vibrating, he decides to turn it off.  
  
**  
  
When he shows up at work the next day, there’s a sticky note with a question mark on his desk. He refuses to acknowledge that his heart jumps in his chest at the sight. He knows it’s from Simon. He knows he fucked up things with Simon. He doesn’t need another reminder.  
  
He leaves it on his desk anyway.  
  
Simon doesn’t look at him the entire day. He looks miserable — which is something he never wanted to see on Simon. He prefers the smiling version of Simon more. Knowing that he’s upset and that Jace is the one that caused it is making him want to leave work again.  
  
At the end of the day, he takes his reports to Simon. He’s resigned to the fact that his job is to just leave his reports on Simon’s desk and leave, so he’s surprised when Simon starts talking to him. His voice is quiet enough that Alec doesn’t make it obvious that he’s listening, but Jace knows he is.  
  
“Did I do something wrong?”  
  
The vulnerability in Simon’s voice almost breaks him. He sighs and clicks his pen once. “No, I did. You don’t have to worry about it.”  
  
“Jace— ” Simon starts, but Jace makes up some excuse about having to get back to his work.  
  
**  
  
He spends the night wallowing until he gets a text from Alec. It’s 7:30 and he’s binge watching Criminal Minds, he doesn’t want to deal with this.  
  
[ Alec 7:30 ] I need your help at the office.  
  
He groans, but knows he can’t ignore Alec. The last thing he wants to do is go to work again, but he does it anyway. He throws on a pair of sweatpants and a shirt since it’s just Alec in the office and drives the 15 minutes it takes him to get there. When he makes it upstairs to their office and back to accounting, he’s surprised to see Simon sitting on Alec’s desk and not Alec.  
  
He stops himself from immediately running towards the door and he thinks that might be progress. Maybe.  
  
“Where’s Alec?”  
  
Simon looks guilty, but Jace can also see something underneath it all. He knows that look on Simon. It means he has something up his sleeve and Jace doubts it’s a prank.  
  
“Don’t get mad at Alec. He owed me for fixing his fuck up on a report last month and I was waiting to use it. It seemed like a good idea.”  
  
Jace feels like he could choke on his tongue. He doesn’t know where Simon’s going with this, but he’s sure he won’t like it. His mind is supplying him with ridiculous scenarios where Simon tells him that he never wants to see him again, that he’s moving to their other branch, that he could never even be interested in being friends again. His mind is running a mile a minute and every time Simon pauses for longer than one second, it feels like ten minutes have passed.  
  
“You kissed me and then apologized.” It comes out like a question that Jace doesn’t know how to answer. He can’t explain why he kissed Simon without telling Simon that he’s in love with him, so he doesn’t say anything.  
  
Anyone else would take it as a hint to stop talking.  
  
Simon, apparently, takes it as a hint to keep talking.  
  
“I asked Alec why you apologized and he avoided the question for an hour until I wore him down.” Jace would laugh at that if he wasn’t terrified. “ — You think I have a girlfriend?”  
  
Of all the thing Jace thought Simon would say, he didn’t expect that.  
  
“— You don’t have a girlfriend?” The past year of watching Simon hug Clary is coming to mind and the way he looks at her like she hung the moon. He’s pretty sure Simon has a girlfriend. “You’re dating Clary.”  
  
Simon looks at him like he has three heads. “Clary’s been my best friend since we were kids. She’s practically my sister, Jace.” He pauses and laughs for thirty seconds straight. “I’m not dating Clary. I’m not dating anyone.”  
  
Not dating anyone doesn’t mean that he wants to date Jace. He refuses to get excited about that. He risks enough by taking a step closer to Simon, leaving a short distance between them. It’s enough that he could run away if he needs to.  
  
He definitely doesn’t want to.  
  
“Is that the only reason why you apologized after you kissed me?”  
  
Jace is good at reading some people. He can read Alec and Izzy like an open book and he thinks he’s on his way to being that way with Simon. He can read between the lines. Please don’t break my heart.  
  
His hand raises to cup Simon’s cheek again and he feels like this is a dream. That maybe he’s at home in his bed and he’s going to wake up and all of this will be a dream. If it’s a dream, he’s going to make the best of it.  
  
“That’s the only reason.”  
  
Their first kiss surprised Simon, and their second kisses surprises Jace.  
  
Simon surges up to kiss him and almost overbalances them. It’s endearing. His hand falls to Simon’s hip to steady them, letting Simon take the lead with the kiss. It’s the best feeling he’s had in weeks.  
  
Jace moves closer to him without breaking the kiss, stepping between Simon’s legs. They’re so close that Jace is dizzy from it. When Simon pulls back to breathe, Jace can’t stop from grinning like an idiot. Before Jace gets a chance to savor how happy Simon looks, they’re kissing again.  
  
He moans into Simon’s mouth when Simon’s fingers end up in his hair. It shouldn’t surprise him that Simon finds the spots on him that are sensitive without even a minute of awkward fumbling, but it does. Heat settles in the pit of his stomach and he becomes more aware of the fact that they’re making out in their office.  
  
“Nice outfit, by the way.”  
  
Of course, they can’t even have a proper make-out session without Simon making fun of him. Jace wouldn’t have it any other way. He rolls his eyes affectionately, biting Simon’s lower lip in retaliation.  
  
“Shut up. I thought I was coming to meet Alec, not you.”  
  
“So you would’ve gotten dressed up for me?”  
  
He knows he should say yes. If they were in a Lifetime movie, he’d say some cheesy line like _I would do anything for you_ — but they’re not. He would do anything for Simon, but he won’t ruin the banter with that. “Absolutely not. I would have worn something worse than this.”  
  
Simon laughs at that and Jace grins easily. He really loves him.  
  
They’re not making out anymore, but neither of them are trying to run away or leave. His eyes keep falling to Simon’s lips and he knows he’s being obvious but he doesn’t care. At least not much.  
  
This time when he kisses Simon, it’s slow. It’s not a rushed kiss that happens because they both can’t handle the sexual tension. It’s the type of kiss that he wanted to have with Simon for months. Simon whines when Jace deepens the kiss and locks his legs around Jace’s waist.  
  
He isn’t sure which one of them starts it, but their hips are jerking against each other as Simon tugs at his hair. The rhythm is messy and the friction isn’t perfect but he doesn’t care. He’s dreamt about getting to see the way Simon looks when he falls apart for months. They can have more finesse later.  
  
It surprises him when Simon pulls away but before he has a chance to complain, Simon’s lips are on his neck. He’s sure that Simon’s leaving a massive hickey on a very visible part of his neck but he can’t find it in himself to care. At least not right now.  
  
Right now, he’s just focused on how good Simon feels against him. He can feel every inch of him when Simon rolls his hips against his. It’s overwhelming in the best possible way.  
  
He doesn’t expect either of them to come as quickly as they do but when Simon whimpers in his ear and digs his nails into his back, he knows it’s basically a done deal. He comes a few seconds after Simon does, both of them breathing heavily.  
  
He feels like a teenager, but Simon is grinning at him so he can’t really give a shit. He’ll care in a few minutes when coming in his pants becomes uncomfortable.  
  
Jace kisses him again so that he doesn’t blurt out that he loves him. When Simon shoves at his chest gently, he furrows his brows and pulls back.  
  
“Are we dating?”  
  
He can’t help it — he laughs. It’s the most ridiculous thing that Simon could’ve asked him after the last twenty minutes. He stops laughing after a minute when he realizes that Simon isn’t joking. He raises a hand to rest his hand on Simon’s neck, eyes softening when he meets Simon’s gaze.  
  
“Yeah, we’re dating.” He avoids saying that he’s been in love with him for months. Simon doesn’t need to know that yet. “Wanna see a movie with me this weekend?”  
  
When Simon nods and kisses him again, he wonders why he ever thought he couldn’t have this.  
  
**  
  
They do go on their movie date.  
  
Simon eats too much popcorn and Jace picks a horror movie just so Simon will sit closer to him in the theater. Surprisingly, they don’t get kicked out for making out in the movies like they’re fifteen. Jace thinks it’s a small miracle.  
  
It’s the best date Jace has ever had.

  



End file.
